The Seer's Choice
by gypsyassassin
Summary: Lily had the Second Sight, and this changed many things from the Dumbledore's delicate plan, but no-one realised until the end of Harry's fifth year. WARNING: contains slash.ON HIATUS until I touch base with canon again.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** For those who aren't reading this for the first time, yes, some of this has changed, but not much. I'm keeping personal archives of how it was before, so if I get that response, I can write a story along the previous lines. However, I recently came across a challenge, and decided to answer it, with this story. That lead to some changes. The challenge, given by lightgoddess on the silver snitch, is as follows:

_What if Harry survived Voldemort's AK not because he was destined to be his equal, but because he was an Immortal? I would love to see this written. Here's what I would like to see in it:_

1. Harry reaches maturity (what ever age you wish it to be) and comes into his immortality (i.e. changes drastically over night, is in an accident/battle and should die, but heals perfectly, or whatever your lovely muse can come up with.  
2. The reason Harry still grew and aged is because of how little he was (as in helpless and couldn't defend himself), or another reason you and your muse can come up with.  
3. Snape and Harry can be in an established relationship, or it can grow into it.  
4. Snape is 1) a watcher, B) an immortal himself, C) knows Duncan MacLeod in some way, or 4) a holy man or mystic.  
5. There is another immortal, wizard or not your choice, who is after Harry and Snape and MacLeod are trying to teach him and protect him.  
Ok, I think that pretty much gets it... I don't really care what the rating is, but smut and violence are always welcome. Lol

Considering just what I had planned for this story in any case . . . not too big of a change, and I now get to play around with our lovely Highlander boys . . .

_**Enjoy!**_

**The Seer's Choice**

**Prologue: A Mother's Right**

**Just before moonrise, **

**October full moon, 1981**

**Godric's Hollow – Ritual Grove**

"Have you got all of the gems now, James?"

"Yes, that's all of them, Lily. Every single one. You know, I'm still not sure this is such a good idea. I know you've only ever seen the truth in the past, but this seems a little extreme. Bringing out all the hidden creature heritages in the Potter and Black bloodlines?"

"Not to mention any that may or may not be in my blood, with Dumbledore blocking me from tracking my adoption records. . . . I designed the charm to extrapolate the possibilities based on his blood using the power of the gems. And you know that at least some of them are going to be active once he Matures, considering what happened with Severus-"

"Yes, yes, but still, all of them? And doing it so young?"

"That's why I'm partially Binding him until his Maturation. That way, he won't suffer a massive personality change because of something coming out then and no Potter or Black elder to cast the Restorations, all of the instincts that would come out then will be a part of him his whole life this way. And, they won't all be full . . . he'll only have partial traits of most all the creatures heritages. Now hurry, I have to cast this at moonrise exactly."

**Later that evening**

**Godric's Hollow – Harry's Room**

"Would you explain it again, Lily? I still don't see why Sirius can't cast the Restorations, you said he'd be alive . . ."

"You know I can't tell you that, James. It would change things too unpredictably, and this is the best way for Harry. Either we die or we live, but the only way for Harry to live is if we die . . . soon."

"You were going to tell me when we're going to die, weren't you? It's before the next full moon, I know that much, or you would have put off the ritual until then. . ."

"Anyway, as I was going to say, since it's done already, there's no harm in telling you. Sirius won't be able to raise Harry – and no, I won't tell you why, though I have left all of my reasoning in letters for Harry in the Potter vault . . . he'll find them when it's time for him to know – but anyway, with our deaths Dumbledore will put Harry with the Dursleys, and make sure that he stays there. Without the charm I spent the last year creating, Harry would be . . . broken . . . by the time he went to Hogwarts. If he lived, he would be easily manipulated. Now, he has a chance of actually becoming his own person, and surviving the Dursleys. His time there will be all the worse for the fact that he won't break, but he will still be whole when he breaks free of them . . . damaged, but whole. The . . .situation with Severus shows that the dominance I've seen in his future is a part of him even now, but the broken child who follows any order given to him . . . I don't want our only child to end up like that."

"And Sirius and I don't have a say? I'm Harry's father, and Sirius is just as much his father as I am, thanks to that highly illegal blood adoption ritual you talked us into. . . which raises another question. Why haven't you told Sirius this? Or Peter?"

"Because the two of you are rash, especially when you think our son is in danger, and telling Peter would be as dangerous as telling that Gods-damned White Lord! Now, I've got to finish writing this one last letter and delay post it, if you'll leave me to do it!"

"Fine!"

**1 AM**

**1st November, 1981**

**Godric's Hollow – Front Courtyard**

"I'm his godfather! Why on earth would Harry have to go to manaphobic idiots when I can take care of him perfectly well?"

"Professor Dumbledore said the only safe place for him now is with his relatives, Sirius. And they'll be able to take good care of him, too."

"Come on, Hagrid, you have to know better than that. How many times has Lily told you about how her lovely, sweet, friendly sister acted from the second she found out her sister was a 'freak'! And I don't buy that crap about wards based on Lily's sacrifice, either. Everyone knows that they only work if there's a loving relationship!"

"The Professor said that it's best Harry's with someone who knows how ta handle babies, now, Sirius, and you know you aren't set up for that yet!"

"Well, alright then, but only until the will's read! I won't be able to set up my place for Harry until then anyway. Here, take my bike, it'll be safer than the floo, with the word getting out like it is, all these people coming and going . . . if I weren't on leave, I'd have one Hel of a day obliviating all these muggles tomorrow. I've got to go find Peter, hope he's alive . . ."

**2 AM**

**2nd November, 1981**

**Chief Warlock's office**

**Ministry of Magic**

"Are you going to help me find Peter or not? You know he has to have gone over! There wasn't a single sign of a struggle, physical or magical. You know what that means just as well as I do, and don't you dare go on again about how it would look. You cast the Fidelius yourself, Albus! All you have to do is testify to that fact, and they'll get Wormtail locked up, where he can't hurt Harry anymore. Now we don't know where he is, and the way he's been living in hiding the last year, he can disappear into the muggle world without a single trace to be found, given a head start!"

"I know all of that, Sirius, but that doesn't change anything. I have responsibilities here at the ministry, and harry is quite safe at the Dursleys. Now, I really do have to go, Sirius. The trial for the Lestranges and the others who attacked the Longbottoms should have started five minutes ago."

"But- . . . . Fine. I'll go find him and bring him in myself."

**10 AM**

**2nd November**

**Chief Warlock's office**

**Wizengamot building**

"Now, Cornelius, we've been over this. If we have any more trials just now, it will keep reminding everyone just how hard the war was, but if we just keep them out of sight, everyone will just go right on with getting back to their lives, and that's what we want, isn't it? Everyone getting on with their lives, seeing you as the Minister who made it possible. Isn't that what you want?"

"Well, yes, Albus, but-"

"Well, I'm glad that's settled. Now, I'm afraid you'll have to call off those raids on suspected Death Eaters-"

"But we have conclusive proof! Malfoy was-"

"I'm afraid that would uproot most of the wizarding world, Cornelius. Lucius Malfoy owns most of Diagon Alley, not to mention he holds the lease on a good quarter of the land the ministry is 'caring for' . . . it would just bring absolute chaos, and then . . . well, it would not be good for the wizarding world. Now, I really must be going, I do have a school to run, after all, and there's a meeting of the ICW this evening."


	2. 1: Early Consequences

**Chapter 1: Early Consequences**

**September, 1986**

**Little Whinging Elementary**

"Harry Potter?"

"Oi, Freak! Teacher wants you!"

The six year old boy dressed in rags turned and cowered fearfully upon hearing his overly large cousin's bellow, and the young teacher who had been calling the roll noticed again the stiff movement of his torso. She didn't believe for a moment that the obvious injury was the result of 'boys being boys', but she had no proof. The social worker assigned to work with the school because of all the accusations of bullying claimed that he'd talked to young Harry, and nothing seemed amiss. Still, the boy never answered to his name, and that wasn't rudeness. He was exquisitely polite in all other things. It was almost as if . . . no. It would be impossible for a boy to grow up not even knowing his own name . . . . wouldn't it? Unless the cousin learned the form of address he used from his parents . . .

"Yes, Miss Turner?"

"I was just taking the roll, Harry. But since I've marked down that you're here already, why don't you run a message to Mrs Levitt, over at the library? Here's the message, and you may as well tell her you're there to help her, too. She's not finished getting the books sorted out for the older students, so she wanted me to send someone over to help her."

"Yes, Miss Turner. May I ask how long it will take?"

"She said it should take her all day, with help, so you should take your things with you. Now, here's the homework for you to do tonight for me, ask Mrs Levitt to teach you the lessons during lunch, she tells me she loves teaching. Now, off you go, and don't lose that note!"

"Yes, Miss Turner."

**Early Afternoon**

**June, 1989**

**Little Whinging**

**Liz Turner's house**

Looking after the waif of a child through two years of schooling hadn't been easy, or risk-free. Several times, she had not been wary enough about the questions she asked, and it reached the headmaster, whose standard reaction to the very idea was to threaten to blacken her name such that she could never get a job again. But it was worth it, to be able to take care of the genius child she had grown to love as a little brother. She still hadn't managed to get Harry away from the Dursleys, but she managed to encourage Harry to actually use his brain. Not show it, definitely not, not with a family like his, but to enjoy using it. She hadn't needed to explain to him how dangerous it could be for him to let on that he was much smarter than any of the Dursleys – or, for that matter, than all of them, and all of the teachers, put together! – but once she suggested he first learn how to hide his intelligence, she could barely keep up to him. Only her greater level of experience allowed her to suggest other avenues of learning that he might find interesting, and Mrs Lovitt helped a lot, claiming quite regularly that she needed someone to help her put all the books away after class because of her bad back, which never actually stopped her from putting the books away while Liz Turner tried to keep up to her young pupil. Nor did it stop her from knowing the very instant she needed to sit down and tell Harry to 'get on to the next pile of books and stop bothering Miss Turner for help with your homework, and oh, hello headmaster Snyder, I didn't hear you come in, well I'm afraid we're in a bit of a disarray, but Harry here is getting very good at putting books away in their proper places, aren't you, boy?'

But today, everything had changed. Liz looked once more at the leatherbound book on her lap that Harry had brought along today, having found it the day before while 'dusting the attic', which if Liz were not very much mistaken, meant rearranging, sorting, and cleaning from floorboard to rafter, the large attic of the Dursley's residence on Privet Drive. He had to get back to it, he said, which meant he wasn't permitted to stay after and help Mrs Lovitt – would she please pass that along when she went to the library for her research this afternoon?

One of the few things she had been able to help him find out about his mother had been her name, which darling Petunia had never told him. She had disappeared from all records at age eleven, though they were sparse before that. She was found on a doorstep, placed with the Evans family. A remarkably healthy child, she did well at school, though many of her teachers felt the need to note that she never seemed to complete her potential. After eleven, however, the only records found were her marriage certificate, at age 18 to a James Potter, for whom no records at all existed, Harry's birth certificate, and her death certificate, on the same date as her husband. And yet, here there seemed to be answers, for embossed in gold leaf on this journal was:

_Lily Evans_

_Ages 11 – 12_

There was only one problem. It was obvious, to her, that some powerful wizard – or witch – had cast an aversion spell of some sort on it. Being a squib, born of squibs for several generations, it didn't affect her as it would a witch or wizard, but she could still sense it. And that made Lily a witch, either muggleborn or maybe halfblood. Maybe even pureblood, although Liz could not think, from what little her parents told her of the Wizarding World, why a pureblood would abandon their child. . . . but that made Harry a wizardborn wizard, not a muggleborn as she had originally thought. She could sense the strength of the magic in him - the only vaguely magical ability she had was to sense magic – but had thought him Muggleborn. Now that she knew better, she had to teach him what little she knew, and help him to learn more, but . . . that spell was cast by someone . . . and considering the age of Harry's mother when she started this journal, that spell was probably cast by someone who didn't want Harry to know about their world before he left for school. The only reasons Harry had been able to see the book, let alone bring it here to her, was the sheer strength of his magic and his peculiar, brilliant mind . . .

Reaching a decision, Miss Elizabeth Turner reached into her makeup drawer and picked out a matte foundation that would match Harry's face perfectly, powder, and applicators, before wrapping them in her sturdiest bandanna, from her own student days not so very long ago.

After all, no child who had been through what she now knew Harry had been through could believe in magic without some proof, and she couldn't exactly provide it, could she?

**Late afternoon**

**September, 1989**

**Little Whinging **

Since his discovery of his mother's journal, Harry and Liz had gone on many excursions over the summer. Apart from a few days of solid work here and there, he was on much the same schedule for chores as he was for the rest of the year, meaning he could get them done quite quickly, and since he had been getting better at avoiding Dudley's gang and Petunia didn't want the Freak around during the day, no one missed him on the days they went to London. Harry had taken quite well to the Wizarding World, masquerading as Liz's kid brother, Ricky, who they had finally discovered had magic after all. Their first meeting with the goblins (who were delighted with the use of muggle cosmetics as a disguise, once they were sure Harry and Liz were not trying to fool them) was quite beneficial, the goblins allowing them to draw enough gold, without either deactivating or reproducing the key to Harry's trust vault, to purchase all they needed, over a few visits, to prepare Harry for his public entry into the Wizarding world. This was mainly books on Wizarding culture (both thought it would be terribly amusing to offer insults to people while pretending complete innocence), the subjects Harry would learn at Hogwarts, and Wizarding History, as well as a shielded magical trunk, with an inbuilt transfiguration – with the right magical signature and the right thumbprint, it would transform from a trunk into an apparently mundane pack of playing cards, and back with the correct command word and the opposite thumbprint. The goblins also agreed that Harry Potter had never set foot in Diagon Alley, or Knockturn Alley, or Graphian Way, should anyone ask.

One thing they could not find anywhere to buy, was a guide to something the goblins assured them every wizarding child was taught . . . how to focus their magic, and stop accidental magic from happening. Wizardborn children learned it from their parents, it seemed, so they had no need of a guide, and muggleborn children were supposed to be taught by whoever made first contact. So, the goblins agreed to teach Harry how they focused their magic – he could learn the wizarding way whenever they deigned to teach him, but theirs didn't just focus on stopping accidental magic – they channelled their magic, without need of a focus simply because they learned the requisite discipline of mind to not require one. This, Liz decided, was a good thing for Harry to learn, since he already had enough control over his emotions that he could not remember any incidents of magic. If he could learn to channel his magic without a wand, he could . . . generate . . . some 'accidental' magic. Otherwise, it would most likely be very difficult to explain exactly why he believed in magic, when he was brought back to the Wizarding World. . . luckily enough, the Dursleys provided plenty of inspiration, and on the months that failed, Liz was perfectly happy to have her hair turned blue for a while. She quite liked the effect, actually.


	3. Chapter Two: Maturation And Death

**Chapter Two: Maturation and Death**

**End of school year, 1996**

Harry was furious. He had no idea who had thought of this wonderful little present from the Order, but half of them were teachers or in law enforcement! They should have had some clue to the fact that their little . . . show of strength back on the station had only ensured that Harry would get a thorough beating when he got to 4 Privet Dr., far too many chores, and a full booking for the entire summer, meaning he wouldn't be able to see Liz. Over his years at Hogwarts, he had kept in contact with her in secret, and they had become much more like brother and sister than teacher and former pupil. This had lead him to several . . . _interesting_ . . . discoveries . . . such as the fact that someone had been memory charming him. Several times he had written to her of his intentions to confront Dumbledore about several things he hadn't told Harry, and yet later, when she asked him how it went, he didn't even remember wanting to know the answer, let alone deciding to seek it out. So far, he hadn't been able to break down the memory charms, but there were several other things that he found interesting. Liz had bought him several books that he wasn't technically supposed to have, on the basis of knowing what to expect when the kid brother she was raising got older. In those there were several descriptions of the process of coming of age, what to expect to happen to a Maturing Wizard of various power levels, and a note that Hogwarts, Beaubaxtons and Durmstrang students were all taught this in fourth year, well before the beginning of the Maturation period for even the most powerful of wizards – as evidenced by the fact that most, average, wizards and witches' Maturation period lasted only a few seconds, and Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard for whom this was known, had a Maturation period of twelve months, which started shortly before his fifteenth birthday.

The point was, for someone as powerful as everyone knew Harry was, it would be extremely dangerous for him to Mature without knowing what was happening . . . and while he knew his not challenging his emplacement in the Triwizard Tournament was important to keeping his persona – the Boy-Who-Lived did not know Wizarding law, after all – he also knew that it had given Dumbledore the perfect opportunity to exclude him from the lessons on Maturation, simply by scheduling them at the same time as photo shoots and the like. Considering it a personal thing, most people would not have wanted to talk about it, and for those who did, well, Hermione's great respect for authority certainly made it easy for Dumbledore to tell her that Harry had been given 'all the information he needed' and didn't want to talk about it. Ron, of course, was much easier than that. Harry had know from the start that dear Ron was a plant – honestly, a woman like Molly Weasley, forgetting the station number for Hogwarts? – and had decided the spy you knew was better than the one you didn't. And then when he started, later on in his fourth year, to show signs of maturation, everyone assumed he wouldn't want to talk about it, and that he knew what was happening, and really, it's Harry Potter, so who didn't expect him to have an early maturation, or a long one? But the adults and Ron, under Dumbledore's influence, merely did their level best to anger him, and get him to bottle up his anger.

There was one-

Harry was startled as Vernon's massive hand jerked him out of the car and into the garage, not having noticed that the entire trip to surrey had passed, or even that they had stopped.

"Got some nerve, Boy! Telling those freaks lies, have you? Well, you'll be writing out those notes right now, and then dating them for every three days, and then, well, then, we can have some fun, can't we, Freak?"

Harry could feel the rage in him, boiling almost beyond control, matching his magic that, again, he could barely hold in check, and suddenly, he knew that this was it. His Maturation period was ending, and any physical changes would happen in the next few hours . . . the books also mentioned some personality changes if there were any creature heritages, but that, he didn't believe he had.

Hedwig's screech of pain as her wings were torn off brought him out of his struggle with his rage, and suddenly, he no longer wanted to restrain his temper. Hedwig may not have been his first friend, but she was a friend, and a very close one. He saw Dudley throw the snowy owl's wings onto the bonfire that had been made of his belongings, and he let go.

Several hours later, after the magical blaze finally finished disposing of Harry's relatives, he came back to himself. The past hours were a blur of pain, exultation, vengeance, and change, and now he realised that while he had changed quite a lot physically, he hadn't changed much in personality. He still held the same views, morals and mental capabilities, except . . . more so. He wasn't sure how he could tell, but he knew that his talent for potions, carefully hidden during term, had only increased, along with several other talents.

A sudden burst of hunger prompted him to stand from his prone position on the floor, leading to another shock. He had noticed the increased sensitivity of all his senses earlier and he certainly felt like he was stronger physically, but not only had he gained quite a bit in height, he also noticed as he stood, that there were patches of. . something, itching on his skin, and looking briefly into the hall mirror he realised what it was. He did not see the face he knew peering out of the mirror. Instead, his face had become more masculine, instead of the androgynous, childlike features that had never matured, and his hair actually seemed to be behaving, although it had lenghtened to well below his shoulders. The most surreal aspect of his new visage were the patches of blue and green scales accenting his face.

After fixing himself a meal, Harry searched the house to see what, if any, of his belongings had survived the Dursley's wrath. He was relieved to find a mundane pack of playing cards sitting on the coffee table, and spoke the command word to turn the pack back into a trunk. After searching a bit more, he found a scorched scrap of leather, and realised that his album that Hagrid put together was gone forever. His invisibility cloak was upstairs, Petunia having apparently decided she liked the fabric and not realising it was magical. His wand, however, was snapped and scorched, the feather inside now a fine powder, although it seemed Dudley had been playing around a bit with the Firebolt – that was the only explanation Harry could think of for it not being in the same condition as his wand.

His cauldron, while scorched a little more than usual, survived, with most of his potions ingredients still inside – from the blast marks around the backyard, Vernon had tried to burn some of the more volatile ingredients, and they had exploded quite spectacularly. It was a pity, really – Harry had always enjoyed watching the more spectacular results of mishandled potions ingredients, from a safe distance of course. But that, it seemed, had prompted Vernon to leave the rest alone.

**Around the same time**

**Somewhere in France**

Remus Lupin let the large owl in through the window, wondering who would be contacting him from the Wizarding World. The only people who had ever truly accepted him were dead or incommunicado.

When he looked at the scroll the bird was carrying, he understood. The pattern of runes along the outside marked it as a time delayed delivery – delayed for fifteen years, unless he missed his guess. And the handwriting, listing his name . . . it was Lily's. He hurried to open the letter, wondering what could have prompted Lily to write him a letter, a time delayed letter at that, while she and James were in hiding.

_Remus_

_I can only hope you will forgive me for encouraging James and Sirius to think you the traitor. You know my gift for the future, how I see all the possible outcomes. It was painful, most of the time, but while I was pregnant with Harry I could not stop the visions. It was as though Harry's power was feeding my own, helping me to comprehend all the permutations of the possible futures and because of that, I knew that you had to be free. The only way to do that, and save Harry as well, was to do what I did, but that does not excuse my not telling you at the time. There are many things you don't know, because James was suspicious of you and I simply did not have time. I was too busy, creating my last charm, to save my son. The most important thing you need to know is that Dumbledore did not have second place, after Sirius, as guardian of Harry, as I know he has claimed. He told you our will was read while you were out of the country – another lie. It has not been read yet. I did not tell James this, although he knows that Dumbledore is the reason our son will be abused, starved, and beaten by my 'darling' adoptive sister and her husband. Our will specifically stated that he was never to go to the Dursleys – I put that in so that Harry could bring it against Dumbledore when the time came, knowing that Dumbledore would place him there anyway. _

_Aside from that, you need to know two things before you go to Harry. First, Severus is Harry's Mate – his submissive Mate at that. When he came to visit me in the hospital, after Harry was born, Harry initiated the link, obviously on instinct. Severus knows this, of course – he acts the way he does because he believes Harry should hate him, not because he honestly believes Harry is a spoiled brat. You know, of course, why that is – Dumbledore foreced him to reveal part of the prophecy to Voldemort._

_Second, Dumbledore has not told Harry about Maturations. At all. I know he told you that he told Harry 'all he needs to know', but as far as Dumbledore is concerned, that trite little phrase means 'as little as possible' Harry does know about Maturations, and everything else Dumbledore has tried to keep from him. He knows quite a lot, actually, but just how he learned all of that is for him to tell you, not me. His Maturation has just finished, as you get this – Harry has not done anything he will regret, and his personality is the same, thanks to my spell work._

_James has figured, by now, that Peter is the traitor – I can hear his yells now, in fact – and thus that you are innocent. You have to know one last thing. Everything I have done – everything – was to ensure the best possible outcome for those I loved. To make sure that you were free, that Harry did not break under the attentions of those. People. I can only hope, from here, that you make the right choices. I have given you the greatest advantage I can._

_Love, Lily._

**Later that evening**

**Liz Turner's House**

"Harry? What on Earth? . . . I take it your Maturation was as spectacular as we expected, then?"

"yeah. . . . I . . . Dunb-old-dork's cult of the flaming sparrow decided to threaten my delightful relatives."

"I assume you dealt with the problem, then, since you're here instead of there . . . Now, we should go to Gringotts, since the goblins have agreed to have private will readings as soon as you're ready, and test your blood for any activated creature heritages – which it is rather obvious you do have, little brother. The scales give it away, even if your ears didn't."

"My ears? I hadn't noticed that they changed"

"Well, they're pointy now. Not noticably inhuman, but very different to how they used to be. I found another book yesterday, I don't know how we're going to find someone to do the Restoration, it has to be done by a relative!"

"I don't think that will be necessary, for some reason. I don't think I've changed at all, other than becoming an adult. Which is weird, but I have a feeling the goblins will be able to tell us why. Let's get going."

**9 P.M. That night,**

**Gringotts Wizarding Bank, **

**Diagon Alley**

"Ah, Ms. and Mr. Turner, we weren't expecting you for a few days, if you'll just wait a moment, we'll have someone see to you in private, as usual."

The goblin at the desk seemed unusually pleasant, but Harry – disguised as Ricky, as usual – figured that it was because their plots were finally coming into fruition. The goblins had revealed years ago that they actually hated Dumbledore, but they had learned from their multiple rebellions, and had decided to manipulate the Wizards into giving them the power they wanted. They had their own goals, of course, and were quite a warlike race, but they had enough feuds between the separate clans that they never needed to make war on humans to let out their agression. Since then, the goblins had plotted with Harry and Liz on how to get their goals through, such as, reducing the ridiculous tax on goblin buisnesses. It had gotten so that only several clans working together could work up the start up fees for a non-human buisness, and none of them liked to work together at all. They also wanted to make sure that Wizards could not marry Muggles, which was gradually killing the Wizarding race, since the goblins, with their long memories, remembered exactly what Muggles thought of them, and goblins didn't have the ability to hide even the smallest item, let alone an entire race. They could, of course, retreat underground, but they weren't tunnel-dwellers naturally, and it would destroy them clan by clan. So, they decided to thow their lot in with the human Wizards, and more specifically, with the politically, socially and magically powerful Wizard Harry James Potter, who had agreed to further their agenda in exchange for their aid. He actually agreed with most of their aims, once they explained them. Like banning Wizard-Muggle marriages. A lot of information had been lost over the years, as fanatics took strategies too far, Dark and Light Lords destroyed information in order that they had more personal power over the uninformed masses, and orphaned children only half-remembered information from when their parents told them. Included in that was the fact that mixing muggle blood into a bloodline will destroy the magic in the blood. Once every ten generations doesn't do any harm, but more often and magic in that line starts dying out. That was why, thousands of years before, the Wizards bred with other magical creatures. Although the human gene pool was too small to avoid inbreeding at that time, there were many races that could breed with humans. Most of them were dying out, as they required more space than Wizards, and took the opportunity to preserve some part of their race willingly. Millenia later, Wizards had forgotten why they bred with other magical creatures, and being purely human became something of a status symbol, so the leading houses designed gems that would seal in the creature heritages in their bloodlines, so that they could claim to be purely human, although if the gems for a particular bloodline were ever unmade all those born to that bloodline had the same chance as they should originally have had of inheriting nonhuman traits. Gradually, those who called themselves 'pureblooded' became confused as to the origin of the term mudblood – the mixing of the muggle and wizarding blood, producing a wizard, originally . . . . rather like mixing dirt and water. Dirt is fine and useful. Water, a fluid, is much more adaptable. Mix the two, and you get mud . . . still a fluid. Too much dirt, however, and you get sludge, which is hardly a liquid at all. More dirt, and more and more, and eventually all you have is damp dirt.

Muggle-born wizards, however, were pure water – just as worthy magically as any pureblood. In fact, they were the original purebloods.

Harry was jolted out of his reverie by a goblin clearing his throat nastily. "If you're quite ready, Mr. Potter, we should find out exactly what powers you inherited before that little club of Dumbledore's notices you are not at that muggle abode, and think to check here."

" Oh, yes, now, you require some blood, yes?" they had told Harry of the ritual they used to determine genetic powers years ago.

"Yes, now if you'll cut your left palm, and let the blood fall into this bowl, we can get on to important things."

Harry cut his palm as instructed, and was surprised when his palm healed even faster than usual. He had to cut his palm several times to get enough blood – and began to suspect that the goblins had enchanted the blade to be as painful as possible, and the way the goblin performing the ritual grinned every time Harry winced seemed to confirm it.

As the goblin dropped the prepared parchment in the bowl of blood, he pulled out two large scrolls of parchment, both with three seals, one of which on each was broken.

"The seals represent the conditions for the enforcing of the will. The first seal, which is broken, means the person is dead. The organisation, in these cases Gringotts, to whom the will is entrusted, must break the second, and the third one must be broken by a relative of the one who made the will, or the executor. In both of these cases, that would be you, little brother."

"Okay."

As soon as Harry broke the two seals, the Gringotts goblin – who still hadn't given them his name, which they didn't like wizards knowing anyway – broke the last seal on each scroll.

"As we suspected, there is a long list of people who should have been given custody of you. There is also a note explicitly forbidding custody to be given to the Dursley family. All possessions are to be given to Harry, with the trust vault to be refilled each year, with an amount calculated by gringotts to be sufficient to support a child of Harry's age, without being excessive. He should have good but not fine quality robes, sufficient food, comfortable but not luxurious furnishings, and a good school. Any medical costs are to be paid from the family his maturation, he was to have full control of all possessions, including all family vaults, on the condition that he proves his ability to manage them. There are personal letters in the family vault.

The Black will is quite similar. A long list of secondary guardians, all possessions to go to Harry Potter, all vaults to go to harry Potter, title to go to Harry Potter – explanation on how this is possible is in one of several personal letters in the Black family vault. Now, the ritual should have run its course by now, and I believe the cult of the sauteed quail has just discovered your absence, so I would recommend you take this parchment, this correspondence box, and this magical ring to

display either of the family rings you are entitled to."

As the Goblin hurried them out of the bank, Liz and Harry caught a glimpse of one Severus Snape, wearing fine black robes and a smug smirk, before leaving the Alley and driving back to Little Whinging by a circuitous route.

**9P.M. The same night,**

**a private room**

**12 Grimmauld Place,**

**London**

Severus Snape was bottling a healing potion for the medical wing of hogwarts when a large owl flew in the window and offered him a letter he had been dreading for fifteen years. Lily had told him that a time delayed letter would arrive the hour he could no longer pretend to hate her son.

_Severus_

_My old friend, you can never know how glad I was when what I had seen as possible came to pass. I knew that you would harden with my death, and I knew how you would be forced to act towards my son. The fact that you are his Mate, will save the both of you. Harry will need your support and experience, and he will lend you strength, and keep you from becoming the bitter, petty man you show the world._

_I can only apologise, dear brother, for making so many decisions for you, but I would not have you Mated to one fated to die so soon, and I would not have my son die at the hands of that madman. You know the true histories, from your First Teacher. You are the one who told me them, after all. I created a ritual to unmake the gems, Severus. It should also activate something in Harry that would not normally activate until older. He will live a long time, due to the Drake blood in his veins. With the old goat's confidence, you already know what his plans were, so instead, I will tell you of my son, your Mate. He is so much more intelligent than he shows the world, and so much more knowledgable. We were hailed as geniuses, we two, for finishing our masteries before we were ever out of school, but he is a true genius. He knew of the Wizarding World long before any came to find him, and has allies in the bank. As you finish reading this, our dear headmaster is discovering what has happened at privet drive. You should go, now, for neither of the men who would be your master will be pleased by this._

_With all the love and hope I can give,_

_Lily._

Even as he read the letter a second time, Severus was picking up his trunk, already packed with all of his belongings and shrunken, and a long katana, which he placed under his robes.

Earlier that day, he had been visited by his mentor, Duncan MacLeod, telling him that one of the ancients of their race was in the city. An immortal over four thousand years old, or that was what was said, was apparantly headhunting all over london, choosing remarkable Immortals to hunt. Severus had packed his belongings as soon as he returned to the Order's Headquarters, so he would be ready to leave if he caught even a trace of another's quickening. Then again, the older ones could

hide it, so he wasn't relying on that, either.

In Diagon Alley, he caught a glimpse of a teen, just Matured, and his apparent older sister. . . most likely one Harry Potter and whoever was helping him. He felt a smug smirk cross his face – FumbleDork would never know what hit him, and would never recognise his Golden Boy as he was now. Then he realised what had set him on edge each time he saw potter through the school year. It was stronger now – a trace of the quickening, an immortal about to die for the first time . . . but it shouldn't have been there for that long before!

Throwing caution to the wind, he apparated directly to the co-ordinates Duncan had given him for where he was staying, rather than the three apparitions and untraceable portkey he had planned – it would not do for either of his so-called masters to discover any Immortal, let alone the fact that Severus was one.

Duncan and Tessa were just finishing a romantic dinner when a sudden loud CRACK echoed through their room.

"Severus, you normally use the door! What is wrong?"

"Oh, everything! How long before the first death does an Immortal start to show signs of Quickening?"

"Normally, a month at most. Only rarely before then."

"Try years, this time! I only just realised what it was setting me on edge around my Mate . . . for the last five years! It only became consciously noticible tonight!"

"Duncan, how is this possible? And with that ancient one in town, how are we to keep him safe?"

"We must leave England then. I would take us to Scotland, but that is too close. Europe, do you think? Or America?"

"Conor should be in paris by now, he said he would be there for spring and summer. And we all know our way around well enough that the interfering old men will not be able to find us."

"We will be gone all summer, training Harry, won't we."

"If not longer!"

"Ah, but I can teach him at Hogwarts, anyway. If you're worried, as both Lord Potter and Lord Black he is actually entitled to have three bodyguards and two advisors with him at Hogwarts. And, no matter how old he is, this ancient Immortal won't get into the castle proper without a lot more warning than we may get elsewhere."

**9 A.M. The next day**

**Liz Turner's House**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey**

Harry had found when he woke that morning that the 'correspondence box' contained a pile of letters, the first one with a Gringotts seal holding the scroll, others with a red seal of a lily, and a few with a black seal of a grim.

_Mr. Potter._

_We have taken the liberty of gathering the letters from your vaults, left there by the benefactors. As you may have observed, those with the red seal are from the potter vault, and those with the black, the black vault. You may contact us by placing a letter in the box and closing it. You should not close the box until such a time while it contains any items, as they will be transported directly to Gringotts. _

_We are also obliged to inform you at this time that for all legal intents and purposes, you are, and have always been, both Harry James Potter and Harry Sirius Black. This is due to the fact that your parents, shortly after your birth, performed a blood adoption ritual with Sirius Orion Black, making Mr. Black as much your parent as James and Lily Potter are._

_Gringotts_

Before Harry could move on to read the letters from his deceased family, he heard a disturbance in the street.

"Come out, Harry. H-he won't kill you if you just give in, you know. Please, before a-anyone else is killed!"

The hated voice of Peter Pettigrew resounded in Harry's ears, blocking out the screams of Liz's neighbours.

"Or is ickle baby Potter too sad over his dogfather leaving?"

Harry growled, "Bellatrix Lestrange" before running out to face them both.

He noticed a Muggle car pull up a block away, but put it to the back of his mind while he was trading spells with Lestrange and a few other Death Eaters that he didn't know. He stood and stared, however, when he saw Snape getting out of the car, dressed in Muggle clothes and holding a bared sword, along with another man, also weilding a sword.

Just as he saw this, however, Wormtail screamed out "Avada Kedavra" and a bright green light rushed out to hit Harry. Even with his heightened reflexes from his Maturation, all Harry could do was stare in disbelief at the fact that Pettigrew had actually managed to cast the spell, before it hit him, and he fell into darkness.

Meanwhile, Liz was panicking. Her neighbours were dying, Harry was out fighting, and she couldn't do anything to help. She had no magic, she had no links to the magical world, and she didn't know how to fight in any of the non-magical ways, other than in the extreme abstract. So when she saw Harry hit by the death curse, she could do nothing but rush to his side while hoping against all reason that he would inexplicably survive, just as he had as an infant. Even so, she too had to stare as two dark men, both bearing swords, started killing those death eaters who did not flee with a graceful efficiency. As soon as the street was cleared, one man, obviously Severus Snape from Harry's descriptions, picked Harry's body up while the other picked Liz's slight frame up easily, and carried them to the car they arrived in.

Almost as if that were a trigger, Harry started awake in Snape's arms, gasping for breath, and appearing confused.

"We'll explain on the way, first we need to get all your belongings packed up to leave, permanently. After this, Dumbledore will be here to see if he can find harry, and we need to get out of the country as soon as possible!"

"Not to mention the police. Do you have a passport?

"No! why would I?"

"Well, we will have to get a friend of mine to forge one for each of you."

"You have everything you want to keep? It will most likely never truly be safe for either of you to return here, and anything you leave here may be trapped or traced in some way."

"No, we were planning on finding one of the potter residences to hide in, while harry explored his new abilities . . ."

"Well, thats all then. We must leave, now!"


End file.
